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Thursday, December 15, 2011

B.C. to Alberta, Canada - Dec. 9-11, 2011

Fortunately, our longest drive day yet (340 miles!) was also one of the most beautiful. Unfortunately, Bloggie ran out of juice half-way through the trip! But here's a quick scenic drive, Nelson, B.C. to just before Banff, Alberta:

Our lessons are coming in handy now -- as long as we remember to practice them! But we did on this trip; calling the SpringHill RV Park in Cochrane on our way to make sure that they were open. "Indeed we are!", replied the very helpful Bonnie, but they need 24 hours notice so they can clear a site.

This information came to us in about hour 7 (and 300 miles), I'm sure Bonnie could hear disappointment in my voice. But she was a doll: She went outside in the dark, cold night to see if one of their sites might be cleared of snow thanks to the wind--and sure enough it was. So we headed her way as fast as we could. (By the way, this was the last time we gave thanks to that Cochrane wind!)

We arrived just as she was locking up for the night, but that didn't stop her from welcoming us, showing us around and making sure we got settled into our pitch. A warm welcome like that after so many hours on the road was delightful. (Please visit the campground page at the top of the blog for specific information about the park, but click here for a photo of our pitch, and here for a photo of the park--remember it was December!)

Our time in Calgary was family related so we didn't do any tourist-y things, although we did enjoy a nice walk along the river in Cochrane, where everyone let their dogs run free. Also, if you happen to be in the Marda Loop region, check out Phil and Sebastian Coffee (unbelievably good coffee in a great setting) and the wine store in Mac's shopping center (helpful staff and tons of great wines.)

What we did was spend an inordinate amount of time trying to keep Salt from freezing. The Airstream comes with heated tanks, so they were o.k. but the lines exiting the coach (oh yes Kim, I wrote "coach!") are unprotected. Further documentation of our freezing and de-frosting will be covered in the "Great Falls, Montana" posting.